Oil prices slid mid-morning Wednesday as gloomy global manufacturing data grabbed attention ahead of an annual meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with interest rates high on the agenda.
Brent crude was down $1.01, or 1.2%, at $83.02 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 98 cents, or 1.2%, at $78.66. Both benchmarks fell by more than $1 earlier in the session.
Manufacturing data emerging from a host of purchasing managers’ index (PMI) surveys on Wednesday gave a steer on the health of economies across the globe.
Results so far have been not so cheery. Japan reported shrinking factory activity for a third straight month in August. Eurozone business activity also declined more than expected, particularly in Germany. Britain’s economy, meanwhile, looks set to shrink in the current quarter and is in danger of falling into recession.
U.S. PMI data is expected Wednesday.
Markets are also looking for hints on the outlook for interest rates when Federal Reserve officials and policymakers from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan head to Jackson Hole on Thursday.
Crude stocks in the United States continued to fall, dropping by about 2.4 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 18, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday, a slightly smaller draw than the 2.9-million- barrel drop expected by analysts.
Related Stories
